New Delhi:
Asia's first day-night Test on Thursday shall witness the Asian test powerhouse Pakistan lock horns against a struggling West Indies at Dubai, UAE.
With a spin heavy attack, Pakistan shall look to unleash a pink-ball spin assault on the Windies batsman, who have proven to be circumspect against quality spin bowling.
Pakistan have been on a roll since their 2-2 series draw in England in August, which briefly lifted them to number one position in world cricket's Test rankings for the first time.
Arch-rivals India relegated Pakistan to number two with recent victory over New Zealand but Misbah-ul-Haq's men have aprime opportunity to close the gap in the three-match series against the West Indies and are strong favourites.
Pakistan captain Misbah said he was relishing theprospect of a day-night Test, where play will be from 3:30 pm to 10:30 pm (1130 GMT to 1830 GMT) with two breaks of 30 minutes, in what is nominally a "home" series for Pakistan.
"It's exciting because I think the future belongs today-night Tests," said Misbah, whose team will be missing senior batsman Younis Khan, recovering from dengue fever. Pakistan have included in-form batsman Babar Azam, 21,for his first Test after he racked up 360 runs during theone-day series against the West Indies.
But misfiring openers Mohammad Hafeez and Shan Masood have been axed from the squad which levelled the four-match Test series against England.
The West Indies, routed by Pakistan 3-0 in both Twenty20 and one-day series preceeding the Tests, come in as clear underdogs. Coach Phil Simmons, who guided them to the World Twenty20 title in April this year, was sacked prior to this tour after the team lost 2-0 to India in a four-match series in August.
But captain Jason Holder said the West Indies down ineighth in the Test rankings are ready to bounce back. "We have some new faces in Tests so we will do our best,"said Holder.
Experts, however, see Pakistan's spin duo of Yasir Shahand Zulfiqar Babar proving too much for the spin-wary WestIndian batsmen, especially in the unfamiliar day-night formatwith the pink ball and under lights.
